Dover Football

Looks like Dover should be moving up Jeremy's rankings after another loss to a real good football team!

Wow, a devastating verbal harpoon tossed from the bow of the USS Forum towards the USS Notebook early on a Saturday.

Well it is better than putting Plymouth in the #10 slot... Unless of course you include those preseason scrimmage results in your ballot!

What will be interesting is who gets voted #1 - there are certainly 4 teams that could lay claim - Keene for beating #1... Bedford for beating Keene, BG, & Dover in recent weeks... Pinky for their out of state win over Brockton... Exeter well because they're the logical choice now since they are #1 in D1 and they beat an in state opponent this week.

Best bet will be Sean Se ndall voting Exeter #1 in the next poll.

Someone, somewhere should give Trinity some love this week...

Dover being ranked in any poll with 1 win is ridiculous. Don't care who they've played. You can't be in a power poll if you don't win. Bottom line.

People who rank these teams certainly should be able to take a few harpoons when their rankings don't work out the way they saw them the previous week. That's what the forum is here for, keeping people honest! (myself included I break down my picks every week on NHSP).

Jeremy has lost his mind and should be stripped of ANY voting rights on ANY poll going forward.

dadncoach wrote:Jeremy has lost his mind and should be stripped of ANY voting rights on ANY poll going forward.

I don't mind taking criticism. If I can't then I'm in the wrong business. But it's one thing to respectfully disagree with someone's opinion while bringing thoughtful, intelligent reasoning behind your opinion to the table. And it's a completely different thing to come on to a forum, make up some random, anonymous username and take a shot at someone's opinion in a disrespectful manner while bringing absolutely zero thoughtful, intelligent reasoning to the table. I'm disappointed that these types of posts are allowed on this forum.

I stand behind my picks, I don't mind debating and I don't mind if others disagree with me. But don't come at me if you're not going to do so in a respectful manner. And don't come at me if you can't back your opinion up, and back it up by saying more than just 'Oh, um, they're 1-6, so there.'

Thought that might be the reply. Some background. I am in my 40-somethings and a lifelong NH resident. I have two children currently in high school, neither currently playing sports. I played high school sports way too many years ago. While I do not any longer, I have coached basketball at various levels. I read the NH Notebook and this forum quite regularly. Consider me lifetime listener, first time caller... Anyone get paid a dollar for this? [hoping someone remembers the reference]. I find a lot of this very insightful and you are all to be credited for giving people like me something to read on regular basis. While I do not agree with it all (right?), the coverage of NH sports is increasing and that's cool.

Now, regarding your poll. They are 1-6, so there. [note light-hearted sarcasm]. I am in na business that does not always allow me to be here to respond and this morning is one time. I will reply with my thoughts (hopefully well constructed) later today. I will say in all my years I have never seen a poll or a vote in a poll that had any team with that record in it. Right or wrong, high school sports is about wins, am I correct?

Have a great morning all.

[quote="EBlessNHSP"]Dover being ranked in any poll with 1 win is ridiculous. Don't care who they've played. You can't be in a power poll if you don't win. Bottom line.

Jeremy ,

You do a great job but the above quote says it all..........

[quote="Crossover"]

EBlessNHSP wrote:Dover being ranked in any poll with 1 win is ridiculous. Don't care who they've played. You can't be in a power poll if you don't win. Bottom line.

Jeremy ,

You do a great job but the above quote says it all..........

See that's not an argument. That's just someone saying 'Oh they're 1-6 so they're not top 10.'

Let's pretend for a second that Dover and Keene switched schedules this season. So Dover's non-league games would be vs. Salem and Goffstown and Keene's non-league games would be against Exeter and King Phillip. If that was the case Dover would be 3-4 right now, and Keene would be 4-3. Let's take it a step further. in league play, Keene has played against Merrimack but not BG while Dover has played BG but not Merrimack. So if Dover played Merrimack earlier in the season rather than BG they would be 4-3. So just by switching their non-league games with Keene, and by switching the order of 2 of their league games, Dover's record goes from 1-6 to 4-3. Why should Dover be punished just because they played the toughest non-league schedule in the state AND because all of their tough league games just so happened to be scheduled in the beginning of the season while the schedule worked out so that Dover plays the 3 worst teams in D-II at the end of the season? Why should they be punished for that? If they were 4-3 they would be top 10, right?

Jeremy, as one who touted the 1 victory Lancers of Londonderry for the majority of the last HS basketball season, I can understand your passion and conviction for trying to justify having a 1 win Dover team in your poll. I think the Lancers were well respected as a tough team by most coaches and they strung some victories together. They nearly pulled off an upset of North in the prelim playoff game coming up just short losing by 1 point.

But....... You start off your main argumentative paragraph with the two words:


"Let's pretend"



Sorry there colleague of mine. I have to stop you right there.

I love the new radio intern who used to play for Merrimack. He said he walks around town with his head down, embarrassed by what he sees on the field.

Kid knows his high school sports and is not afraid to give an honest opinion.

I think his name is Rich Flera.

Good point T&F. We could 'what if' this to death. Kudos to Dover for having a touch schedule and playing hard. Reminds me of the mediocre record Notre Dame teams of the past who played STRONG schedules. That said, I believe it is a dis-service to Plymouth, Portsmouth and maybe even Trinity to rank Dover ahead of them. They have one win, bottom line.

And GNG (hello), by Jeremy's standards, there is nothing that Dover can do to help their cause this weekend playing Merrimack. It's a step down playing such a sub-standard team, and not even 77 points would help improve thier situation.

3 things that are absolutely certain in life:

1) Death

2) Taxes

3) GNG beating down the Merrimack football horse

I know it won't help Dover.

I just want a new coach in this town. Way to much talent in this town to be putting that product on the field.

The guy is just not a good coach, he may be a great guy, but as a coach it's time to step aside and let somebody else take a crack at it.


Welcome aboard dadncoach.

They get a new coach and I will be the first to sing their praises.

What if Merrimack wins? How will Jeremy spin it next week?

This is a public forum where people can post anonymously. There are millions of them on the Internet. We're not changing that so stop complaining about anonymous posters. If people want to name themselves then they can. But there is absolutely no reason they should have to, we're just talking sports here.....

There are lots of other media members who read this forum and don't get offended (I get emails every now and then praising the viewpoints on the forum ). They understand what it is - a bunch of (and I'll use a SportsTalkMatt er Felger reference) "Yahoo's" talking sports! It is what it is, we are what we are.

Anything I write on NHSportspage.com, anything Marc Thaler writes in the UL, anything Justin says on the air, and anything Jeremy writes on his blog is open for debate. If your site/paper/station is public and free, its open for criticism. Do you think the Guys on the Big Show on WEEI get peoples real names? How about people leaving comments on anyone's website? Of course not. I don't put any stock in using your real name.

Now that that's been said....Dover is maybe a top 20 team at best. I'd still have a hard time putting them in that discussion with 6 losses after 7 games. You're just not that good if you can't close games. ARod is a really good hitter, but he'll never be discussed as a top 10 guy b/c he couldn't perform in the big games, when it counted. Couldn't close. You want to be top 10 Dover? Then beat somebody.........anybody.

You know who is probably the most fired up about being on that ballot? Dover.

I think Jeremy's explanation makes sense. Someone needs to convince me that an inferior team could possibly play the top teams in the state into overtime, or lose by a point or in the final seconds. If I want to know who has the most wins, I'll look up the standings on the NHIAA website. I expect pollsters to make intelligent decision beyond the standings otherwise what's the use of having polls. It's too easy to just go with the records. Please, don't use the college game to compare to NH high school football. Call me crazy if you like but if I had to make a bet on a game, I'll take someone's logical explanation against someone who refuses to credit a team because they've lost to top teams and I'll win most of the time.

Well, one thing is certain. Thanks to conviction, passion and sites like The Forum, Dover is the most talked about 1 win team at this late stage of a season in the history of NH high school football.

Imagine if I wasn't so ugly- I would've dated Natalie Portman.

Unfortunately, I have to deal in reality. Such is life.

Also, power polls are pointless. ASIDE FROM MINE ON DAVE'S SITE!!! nhsportspage.com

I agree with dadncoach…and welcome him to the forum.

Jeremy you are the same kid who once yelled at someone , both on your site and on this forum, who had written something critical of you by calling out them ('I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND JUST SPOKE TO YOU AT YOUR SONS GAME LAST WEEK!' or some ramblings to that extent) and then went into some rant about where you ranked their kid on one of your lists you make up. It was one of the 134 explosions from you in three years.

So when a new member of the forum tells you are wrong, and he is 100% right by the way, don’t go to a moral high ground where you have never lived.

I'm also the guy you were referring to in your column this week..remember? .

‘I have heard some people out there say that they don't care if Dover lost to the Patriots and the Steelers, if they are 1-6 they're not a top 10 team. Are you kidding me? That's an extremely weak argument'

You also wrote that I and anyone else making that argument (Marc Thaler & Eliot Bless) were ‘Clueless’ until I called you on it and you deleted it out of the article.

You then went on to explain the Patriots would beat Newfound 100-0...like this was an actual scenario that may be playing out at a stadium near you with Logan Mankins at 300 lbs. running over 160 lb. Newfound linebackers……….it was awful and juvenile. The fact that you actually argued about it (to yourself as usual) would have blown my mind if I didn’t know who had written it. The fact I read it made me dumber for the experience.

I wrote to you in a private message that I didn’t care if they played the Packers, Giants and Eagles,, they were 1-6. You had only a shed of credibility when you argued that they were a top 10 at 1-3, a lot less at 1-4 and we'll skip 1-5 and go right to none at 1-6.

You argue that WE KNOW!! Dover would be 6-0 with Plymouth's schedule and that Plymouth would be 1-5 with Dover's.............how do you know that? How can you know that?

By the same argument if two weeks into the NBA season the Bobcats are 1-6 having lost to the Heat (by 25 think the Winnacunnet game), to the Celtics by 20 ( the King Phillip game) and by 15 to the Lakers (the BG game) , they would have to be ranked over 18 other NBA teams right? Because you know…strength of schedule is more important than actually winning the game and all…it’s an absurd argument and one people are tired of. Especially when you are YELLING ABOUT IT EVERY WEEK!!

As someone who has had to deal with you behind the scenes for 5 years...and trust me no one has any idea to what degree but Pete & Eliot..let me tell you in plain speak.. Respect people that differ from your opinion no matter how they phrase their argument and stop ranting about a 1-6 football team with no shot at a playoff berth being more deserving than 12 other programs with playoff spots assured. It ruins any shed of credibility you may have had left.

You wanted to call me clueless for the Giants, Packers comments I made off the record? Well there are my comments back on the record.

Thank you HaleyNHsports. I have been waiting for someone to stand up to this person. I agree 100% that when someone is critical of him, out come the personal attacks and the feigned indignation of anonymous. This forum is for people to express their opinion and I appreciate all the contributors who do that. It's fun to read about your insights, as long as doesn't hurt any kids, and I don't care who you are.

Dave - wow!

newtothismom: welcome to the forum - wish there were more people willing to jump into the conversation! Jeremy can control/censor (whatever it gets called) his site/forum, but thankfully this forum exists and allows quite a bit of latitude. There are still rules here, but usually it's an edit/censor after the original post... I remember how crazy Jeremy's site used to be when things were totally anonymous. The supply a screen name & email requirement slowed things down. It is his forum and his rules, we don't have to read/follow and/or agree with it though. I know I posted some controversial stuff on Jeremy's site that never made it past his moderation.. I've also had stuff get through - I pretty much knew on the posts that didn't make it why they weren't allowed

It really has gotten to a point this year where I expect that lone wolf vote for Dover. Kind of reminds me of the kid telling Lebron and the Heat - "good job, good effort". I have to wonder though if say BG or South/North or some Manchester school were in the same position - would the result be the same? Would they get a vote from Jeremy for being 1-6 and having a hard schedule. I cannot remember, did Souhegan get support last year for their brutal schedule/start? What about the team that has the easy schedule and wins - they are expected to win and do they not get as high a vote because of their schedule? There's no charity voting just because you're winning games you're supposed to win.

All things being equal, the claim for the vote is because they've played a hard schedule and lost close games to good teams. So what? And I think just because they're a seacoast team that Jeremy follows/covers he gives them a vote. At least he "mans up" and explains his vote - I believe he was the first to do so - now Marc and Pete also explain their vote. Only 3 of the 17 voters (8 in one and 9 in the other) explain their vote. In the same vein there's criticism (probably too strong a word) for votes for Plymouth because they don't play a hard schedule. Sames goes for Trinity the last couple of years. Well it's hard for them in the division they are in, right? At least we know what happened when Trinity played in D1, where played could be replaced by participated or watched the games because those games were no contest.

Outside of 1 game, the NHIAA chooses the order of the schedule in any sport you play the schedule and teams that are given to you. OK except in Baseball where Dover doesn't play Keene for some strange reason. They also had quite a few varsity players on their state championship Jr. Legion team, but I digress. I think Dover has to ask themselves why they only have 30 or so players on Varsity? A team that was in the championship game last year... Why is there no JV team this year? For as much thoughts that are directed towards BG's regarding their reduction in numbers in the football program, why does Dover get a free pass?

I'm trying to organize a writing/blogging get together tomorrow night for the Dover at Merrimack game. Winner gets sole possession of 8th in D2. Hoping to get Justin, The Asst, Tulliver, Tarrier, hmmmmmmmmmmm let's see who else? Oh yes, Dave Haley and Jeremy. We can all sit together at the Merrimack field and discuss power polls while watching the battle for sole possession of 8th place in D2.

After the game we vote on where to go for a bite and libations: Jade or Flats. Majority rules. Of course since it's GNG's backyard, he gets to join us, if we vote for it. Majority rules.